UNION, N. J. – Eastern University Women's basketball continued its winning ways with a 62-53 win over the host Cougars in the opening round of the Kean University Invitational. Despite shooting only 31 percent in the first half, the Eagles found a way to a third win in three attempts on the year.

How it Happened:

The Eagles trailed for nearly all of the first quarter and the two teams traded leads in a close second quarter. Kean scored five of the last seven points in the first half to build a 26-24 lead at the break.

The Eagles had 12 first-half fouls but still had a 10-8 advantage in foul shots in the half. The Eagles converted seven from the charity stripe, but made only 8-of-26 shots. Naomi Harris led the Eagles with seven points at the break. She and senior forward Regie Robinson were the only two Eastern players with mulitple first-half field goals.

With foul trouble as a major concern, the Eagles sat back in a zone to start the second half. The Eastern players did a good enough job contesting perimeter jumpers and grabbing defensive rebounds to hold the Cougars to only 27 points after the break. The Cougars were only 3-of-15 from behind the arc and made only 2-of-7 foul shots.

The Eagles trailed by as many as six points early in the third period before scratching back to draw level midway through. A 3-pointer from Naomi Harris sparked a 7-0 run to close the third period. Robinson was 5-of-6 from the foul line in the period. Her steal and coast-to-coast effort closed out the period with Eastern leading 45-39.

The Cougars started the fourth with a 7-to-1 run to tie the game, but Robinson scored in traffic to put Eastern back up. Brianna Young-Harris pulled down a tough rebound and pushed the ball on the break. She found Jaelyn Harris on the wing in transition. The first year guard found fellow freshman Bria Rivers cutting to the basket with a sharp bounce pass. Rivers was fouled and split a pair of free throws.

A Viki Kneis jumper sparked the decisive run of the game. Her shot on the wing came off dribble penetration from Da'Naziah Brown. Robinson followed that hoop with a three-point play off a feed from Kneis.

Kean Never came within four the rest of the way. Robinson finished with 20 points and eight rebounds. The senior entered the year 94 points from the 1000-point mark for her career. She has 68 points through three games this season. She is shooting 48 percent from the floor and is averaging 10 rebounds an outing. Naomi Harris recorded a career-high in points for the second game in a row. The sophomore came off the bench to score 13 points. Brown had 10 points, four assists, and four rebounds.

Coach Houston Says:
"We won ugly tonight. We are happy to win, but none of the players or coaches are really happy with our execution for much of the game. We figured out a way to get it done. We want to play better. We will have to play better tomorrow."

"Regie continues to lead us, and Naomi gave a good performance. We had some turnovers late that allowed them to get easy points and stay in the game. We have to do a better job taking care of the ball in those key moments.  We also need to stay out of foul trouble in the first half."

Up Next:
The Eagles will face Moravian College in the Championship Game tomorrow at 2:00 pm. Eastern is 1-2 against Moravian. The Greyhounds beat the Eagles last winter at Lebanon Valley College.